Last year saw the 26th of April marked as the official ‘Alien’ Day, the celebration of the popular sci-fi films after Aliens celebrated its 30th anniversary. Star Wars has May the 4th, Back to the Future got its own day once October 21st 2015 came along and 20th Century Fox designated 4/26 for a celebration of the xenomorphs, in honour of LV-426, the moon where the Nostromo and its crew first encounter the unsettling extra-terrestrials in Alien. To mark this year’s Alien Day, the first and best two films in the series are going to have their director’s cuts screened in the Light House Cinema.
The Alien Day Double Bill will be hosted by the Smithfield Cinema on April 26, starting with Alien at 6.30pm and continuing with Aliens at 8.50pm. Unlike most director’s cuts, Ridley Scott’s 2003 cut of Alien is actually shorter than the original, with Scott adding several scenes for new fans for a special re-release but ending up about a minute shorter. Scott has said that his preferred version is still the original, but for Alien fans the changes make for an interesting new look at a classic film. James Cameron’s cut of Aliens on the other hand, is his preferred version of the film, adding in about 15 minutes of exposition, character scenes and action to the sci-fi action favourite. Tickets for this double-bill are available from the Light House now, so you know how to spend the evening of April 26 with the Alien fan in your life. After all, they mostly come out at night. Mostly.